Money Money Money Mooooonnneeeey!

/"The Apprentice" theme song

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about money. I'm working on paying off debt from living expenses while I was in school last year. I wasn't able to get any student loans or scholarships (for various reasons that I won't go into...grr), so it was quite challenging financially.

Now, I've lowered my living expenses and I'm working fulltime again, so things are going MUCH better.

I recently got this thing from Crown Financial Ministries called the Money Map. It's nothing fancy, just a guide that I can use to help reach financial goals. The first "Destination" on the map is to get $1000 in savings. I've been just using as much money as I can to pay down debt, but after talking with some people, I realized how important it is to have that emergency fund available. That way, I won't have to use credit if something major happens (like an emergency car repair or something).

So, I adjusted my budget for the rest of this year, and discovered that by November I'll have $1000 in savings! Only three months! Sweeeeeeet!

After that, I will continue to put $150 in savings each month, and use the rest to pay down debt. That means that by the end of the year, I'll have $1200 in savings! As I continue to get debt paid down, I should be able to save more and more, too.

I feel like I'm finally learning how to submit all this to God, even though it's still challenging for me. My parents told me to manage money well and stuff, but never really showed me how to simply trust that God will provide for my needs and I just need to follow His guidance. I think I may actually put my Money Map up on my wall somewhere so I will be reminded of my goals and stick with them.

After I hit Destination 1, I'm on to Destination 2 -- paying off all my debt! Woohoo! I will be looking forward to getting that off my back!

~M